July 20-27 was the international Week of Solidarity with the J20 defendants, more than 200 people mass-arrested during the inauguration of Donald Trump. July 20 marked the six-month anniversary of the day the DC police “kettled” a whole city block of demonstrators, bystanders, journalists, legal observers, and street medics at L and 12th Street, and gave them all the same blanket felony charges.

The week saw a cloudburst of autonomous actions across the country aimed at increasing the visibility of the case despite an intentional blackout by the mainstream media. The J20 case is an attempt to establish a precedent for pressing blanket felony charges against everyone in the vicinity of a confrontational demonstration, and terrorizing the defendants with further blanket felony charges if they do not immediately plead guilty. As such, it is crucial that people everywhere around the United States mobilize to draw attention to the case, channel resources into the legal defense, and maintain the morale of those targeted by the state.

You can read an additional rundown of actions, banner drops, posters, graphics, and statements here.

Social centers and radical infoshops like Boxcar Books (Bloomington, Indiana) and Firestorm Books (Asheville, North Carolina) had banners hanging outside all week long, while distributing materials like handbills, fliers, and posters. International acts of solidarity took place in Bristol, England; Ljubljana, Slovenia; Mexico City, Mexico; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Portugal.

One of the most successful events was a press conference and Rally Against Criminalization of Resistance that was organized outside the DC Superior Courthouse on July 27, prior to a hearing scheduled to argue a motion to dismiss the superseding indictment and to compel the grand jury instructions. Livestreamed in its entirety by Unicorn Riot, the event featured speeches from DC organizations standing in solidarity with J20 Defendants, such as the Stop Police Terror Project.

Actions and Events

Friday, July 21

• A bake sale benefit occurred in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

Saturday, July 22

• Anarchists in Ann Arbor, MI held an anti-fascist block party, where they turned a gentrifying portion of the town known as “Graffiti Alley” into a temporary anti-fascist zone, zine share, informal people’s assembly, and outreach space.

• People wheatpasted up to 100 “Support J20 Defendants” and “#DropJ20 End the Repression” fliers in Albany, NY.

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Monday, July 24

• The Bloomington Anarchist Black Cross organized a screening of subMedia’s show “Trouble” and discussed the details of the case thus far.

• A letter-writing party in Durham, NC sent letters to US Attorney Channing Phillips to demand that the charges be dropped as part of #DropJ20.

• “DefendJ20” umbrella graffiti tags appeared across Minneapolis, MN.

• “DefendJ20” umbrella posters appeared in Nashville, TN.

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Tuesday, July 25

• An information demonstration at People’s Park in downtown Bloomington distributed hundreds of handbills with information regarding the case.

• A banner reading “Fight Back! #DefendJ20” appeared over the 101 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles, CA during morning rush hour.

Wednesday, July 26

• Multiple banner drops took place in Albany, NY, proclaiming “Dismiss J20!”, “Drop the Charges! #J20,” and “DefendJ20Resistance.org.”

• DC was covered block to block in flyers that read “I Want You in Solidarity with J20 Defendants” as part of a call-in campaign to Rochelle Howard at the Office of Police Complaints to demand that the investigation into the MPD begin now.

  

Thursday, July 27

• Downtown Oakland was adorned with multiple tags and stencils that read “Solidarity with #J20 Defendants,” “#DefendJ20,” and “Drop the Charges #DefendJ20.”

• Several banners were dropped throughout Chicago, IL that read “Chi in Solidarity w/ J20 Resistance,” “America is Dead #J20,” and “#DefendJ20.”

• A series of wheatpasted posters appeared across New Orleans, LA that read “Refugees Are Welcome Here,” “Our Answer Must Be Community Self-Defense,” and “Show Up For Dane Powell.”

• Portland supporters and anarchists tabled at the Last Thursday Art Walk on Alberta Street, where they distributed zines and J20 materials.

• A banner drop in Colorado Springs that read “Drop the Charges #DefendJ20” was accompanied by a tag that read “#DefendJ20,” along with an anti-fascist symbol in honor of the International Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Protestors.

• An interview with Carlo Piantini, a J20 defendant, was published as the latest episode of Solecast, “Repression is a Battle.”

…and apparently someone decorated a box truck in Ithaca with J20 solidarity graffiti.